Fox Cancels HIEROGLYPH Before It Ever Airs

Last October, Fox ordered the adventure series Hieroglyphstraight to series with 13 episodes. This was an unusual move for a broadcast network with an unknown property. It was part of former Fox Chairman of Entertainment Kevin Reilly‘s plan to move Fox away from the traditional pilot season model. Reilly’s pitch for Hieroglyph:

“We wanted to do a show about deceit, sex, intrigue in the court and fantastical goings-on—no better place to set that than ancient Egypt.”

As “former” implies, Reilly resigned last month after upfront week. It remains to be seen if Fox will return to the pilot season model in Reilly’s absence, but the network clearly was not happy with the results of this particular experiment. Fox has cancelled Hieroglyph before it had a chance to reach its midseason premiere. More after the jump.

THR reports Hieroglyph is not moving forward due to “creative reasons.” Only the first episode had been filmed. The writers were in the process of breaking out the rest of the season under the direction of creator Travis Beacham (Pacific Rim) and showrunner Anna Fricke (Being Human). Production was scheduled to begin on the other 12 episodes later this year for an early 2015 premiere. However, the scripts were not coming together as Fox hoped, so the network cut bait before they invested too much in the project.

Here’s the trailer, so you can see what you are missing:

Official synopsis:

The world of ancient Egypt – a time of magic, Pharaohs, gods and thieves – lives again in HIEROGLYPH, an exciting action-adventure series from creator/executive producer Travis Beacham (“Pacific Rim,” “Clash of the Titans”). The epic fantasy follows a notorious thief who is plucked from prison to serve the Pharaoh, forcing him to navigate palace intrigue, seductive concubines, criminal underbellies and divine sorcerers, as he races to stop the downfall of one of history’s greatest civilizations.

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